Bottle-stopper.



W. L. BODMAN.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED 001'. 26, 1908.

Patented July 13, 1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

WALTER L. BODMAN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR 'lO ISAAC RHEINSTROM, OFCINCIN- NATI, OHIO.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, N ALTER L. BODMAN, subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton. and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBottleStoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a hollow, ductile metallic cap for sealingbottles as a substitute for the ordinary cork.

I am aware that various attempts have heretofore been made to utilizethis principle, but such prior efforts, so far as I am aware, havefailed to take into consideration the influence on the cap of theresistance of the internal gas pressure to the driving force, and havealso produced caps which were structurally unequal to the strain of thedriving force and would hence collapse. Again, the physicalcharacteristics of such prior caps has been such that the bottle sealwas neither perfect nor permanent. These disadvantages which arepractically prohibitive have been entirely overcome by my invention, thefeatures of which will be more fully set forth in the description of theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a central vertical section through the neck of the bottleand cap, illustrating the cap in position for insertion within the neck.Fig. 2 is a similar View with the cap inserted. Fig. 3 is a section ofcap blank. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of cap.

1 is the neck of the bottle and 2 is the hollow, ductile, metallic cap.The central portion is substantially a flat disk 3, the edges of thedisk have the upward bend 4, the outward bend 5, and the downward bend6, and in cross-section the cap tapers outwardly from the center, sothat the downturned wall is relatively the most flexible portion. Fromthis construction it appears that the disk portion of the cap iscountersunk and constitutes the structurally strongest portion of thecap, so that it will not collapse under the driving force. The taperingdownturned peripheral wall is flexible, and its tapered portion closelyengages the inner surface of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 26, 1908.

Patented July 18, 1909.

Serial No. 459,530.

the bottle neck, and under the influence of the drive, the gascompression caused by the entering cap, is a laterally expansive forceoperating upon the most sensitive portion of the cap. Thus the driveexerts an external compression laterally and the internal resistancecauses an expansive lateral action upon parallel horizontal sectionlines through the walls, the result of which is that the side walls ofthe cap following the lines of least resistance, tend to conform to thecontour of the neck of the bottle, thus forming an ef fective hermeticseal. This action is accentuated by the fact that the driving blow onthe central, thicker disk portion of the cap, tends to make the thinedge of the wall fly out and forcibly contact the glass surface of theneck. The effect of the gas (.(nnpressed under a cap of this shape,wider at the top when in position, is mechanically that of a wedge,tending to forcibly retain it in its driven position.

The cap may be easily extracted by a dcvice iitting into the countersunkportion of the cap externally presented, but as this forms the subjectof another invention, I will not here describe it in detail.

Having described my invention, 1 claim 1. A bottle seal consisting of ahollow, ductile, metal cap, the material tapering outwardly in crosssection, and having a depending, peripheral wall, said cap diametricallyapproximating the orifice to be sealed, whereby under the opposingforces of the drive and the internal resistance of the gas the wallundergoes an external compression at one point and lateral expansion atanother, hermetically sealing the bottle, substantially as described.

2. A bottle seal consisting of a. hollow, ductile cap, the materialtapering outwardly in cross-section and having a depending peripheralwall entering the neck of the bottle, said cap being diametricz'tllyapproximate to the diameter of the orifice to be sealed,.

whereby under the opposing forces of the drive and the internalresistance of the gas the wall undergoes an external compression at onepoint andlateralexpansion at another,

hermetically sealing the bottle, substanapproximating the orifice to besealed, sub- 10 tielly as described. stentielly as described.

3. A bottle seal consisting of a hollow, In testimony whereof, Ihevehereunto set ductile cap, the material tapering outwardly I my hand. incross-section and having a depending pe- 1 ripheral Wall entering theneck of the bottle, the central disk portion of the cap being Witnesses:countersunk, presenting an external orifice OLIVER B. KAISER, forextracting the said cap diametrically! L. BECK.

WVALTER L. BODMAN.

